Liam Maaskant was given a chance to prove himself as a 17-year-old rookie defenseman a season ago.

The Erie Otters traded away several veterans, including Brady Austin, Brett Cook and Derek Holden off the blue line as part of their major rebuilding effort. So the team needed every remaining defenseman to play, including Maaskant.

"Some of the guys improved and kept up with the game," coach Robbie Ftorek said. "Some of the guys didn't improve maybe as much."

Maaskant, a healthy scratch in the first five games, has learned he presently resides in the latter group.

"I felt like this summer that I worked really hard. But it just takes time to show your development," he said. "I didn't have the best exhibition games. So I understand (the coaches) had to make some decisions (about) who's playing, who's in, who's out."

He sees the progress other returning defensemen have made.

And rookies Justin Felker and Artem Kuleshov deserve a shot to prove themselves, like Maaskant received last season.

That doesn't make watching games from the stands easier to take.

"It's never easy not playing," said Maaskant, who dressed for all but one of the team's 68 games in 2011-12. "If I got scratched last year, I would have been a lot more devastated than this year because I'm more mature. I've just got to work harder and (get) my spot back."

Maaskant, a 6-foot 3-inch, 205-pounder, already plays a physical game. He's focusing on improving his footwork as well as limiting the mistakes that often takes him mentally out of games.

Ftorek said Maaskant has made positive strides. His effort certainly has been strong, Ftorek said.

"He's working on it," Ftorek said. "He's working really, really hard in practice."

Yet Ftorek isn't sure when Maaskant will earn a chance to play.

"It's hard for him. It's hard for us to not play him," Ftorek said. "He's got to continue to work on it. We're just going to see how that plays out. We'll just see what happens."

Maaskant will arrive at Erie Insurance Arena Friday hoping to see his sweater hanging in his stall, the official sign that he will dress for the home opener that night against the Brampton Battalion. He hasn't seen his sweater on game night yet this season.

"It's always disappointing," he said. "But it's another way to push myself and deal with whatever happens in hockey. ... You can't do anything else than practice hard and show (coaches) that you can play and show them that you want to play."

Maaskant could pout.

"But if I'm down, if I'm beating myself over it," he said, "I'm not going to play my best even in practice."

He could take his frustration out on teammates. But a bad attitude won't get him into games any sooner, and it won't help the team win.

"I'm not into ruining team morale with what happens to me," he said. "I don't want to affect anyone else with it."

And if Maaskant has to sit out, he prefers to see the team win. He wishes he could have helped the team in its four losses. He said the Otters' lone win, a 5-1 victory Sept. 27 in Peterborough, "was fun, because the whole team was up."